18th June, 2021.
OK: you’ve watched the introductory video, haven’t you … ?
I hope so.
If you have, you’ll realise that — at the time I made the thing — I hadn’t made my mind up about what to watch.
Amongst other options?
I had both Lucas’ THX1138, and Besson’s Léon: The Professional.
Something I may catch, another time.
I’ve settled for the Peter Strickland directed Giallo-esque, In Fabric.
Yes: I’m going to bed, and carrying this post on, tomorrow.
But, yes: I think I’ve just seen something amazing …
19th June, 2021.
Just as a word, before I tell you about last night’s movie … ?
I’m listening to In Fabric’s soundtrack.
Sounding like a twisted version of Tubular Bells, with overtones of Cabaret Voltaire’s more accessible stuff?
It’s definitely worth listening to.
Let’s get a move on, shall we?
~≈👗≈~
And of a nineteen-seventies style catalogue, and personal ads, then moves to show us Sheila (Marianne Jean-Baptiste): a single mother in her fifties who is unhappy with her employers criticisms, not getting on with her son’s new girlfriend … and, in an effort to lift her morale, looking to start dating again.
We follow her buying a dress from the winter sale at Dentley and Soper’s.
It seems Miss Luckmoore (Fatma Mohamed), the shop assistant, has just the thing: a red dress that Sheila doesn’t know was the last thing worn by the catalogue model, before the latter died in a car-crash.
After Sheila wears the thing on an unsuccessful first date … ?
She notices a strange rash.
Sees her washing machine wreck itself, when she puts the dress through it.
Notices the dress is unharmed: after a dog attacks her, whilst she’s wearing it.
Which is when Sheila decides to return the dress to the shop: it’s more trouble than it’s worth
~≈👗≈~
We next see the dress being bought at a charity shop: and being worn by washing machine repair man, Reg Speak (Leo Bill), at his stag do.
THEN tried out by his fiancee, Babs (Hayley Squires)
Reg … ?
Has a rash: something he notices before he sees his washing machine destroyed, once the dress goes through it.
Not knowing Reg has the rash … ?
Babs has also tried the dress …
But only notices the rash, once she’s in the changing rooms of Dentley and Soper’s.
Not knowing her fiancee is in danger: and not knowing the store is the last place to be …
~≈👗≈~
Now … what did I think … ?
I think I spent two hours, last night, watching one hell of a film.
Can I make a confession?
I’ve not seen an Italian Giallo film: not even the genre’s seminal works, by the likes of Dario Argento.
Something I have to correct, at some point.
I’m assuming that Peter Strickland — director of both In Fabric, and Berberian Sound Studio — is something of a fan.
At least that’s the impression I get: from the very little I know about the genre.
I do know I’ve seen a film with a visual style style that harks back to the seventies. It comes across as a nightmare version of a Pearl and Dean advert on steroids: only with a heftier ensemble cast.
Gwendoline Christie caught my attention: In Fabric makes more use of her, than ever the Star Wars franchise ever did.
The real star of In Fabric?
Is Fatma Mohamed as the menacing Miss Luckmoore: somewhere between Phantasm’s Tall Man, Shakespeares witches, and the Uncanny Valley occupied by some of the more realistic androids.
Fatma’s performance is worth the ticket price, alone.
Frankly?
I don’t know if In Fabric is strictly a giallo: although I believe it could be.
I do know I saw a very good film, last night.
In Fabric.★★★★
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